Nailbrush

ABSTRACT

A nailbrush has a backing element from which a plurality of slender bristles project. The free tips of the bristles together define a cleaning face and the bristles are of differential length so that the cleaning face has a longitudinally extending depression and a plurality of transversely extending depressions with the former being deeper than the latter.

United States Patent [1 1 Vallis [111 3,744,078 1 July 10, 1973 NAILBRUSH [76] Inventor: Joseph Vallis, 353 Cortleigh Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario, Canada [22] Filed: July 14, 1971 [21] App]. No.: 162,343

[52] US. Cl. 15/167 R, 15/187, 15/DIG. 5 [51] Int. Cl. A461) 15/00, A46b 9/00 [58] Field of Search... 15/159, 167, 160, 15/186, 187, 188, DIG. 5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,482,027 l/1924 Ochse 15/167 R 1,943,225 1/1934 Mclntyre.... 15/167 R 2,097,987 11/1937 Phillips 15/167 R 2,797,424 7/1957 Olson 15/167 R g M [I it m 1 LEM.

3,281,881 11/1966 Yetter 15/167 R 3,295,156 1/1967 Brant 15/167 R FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,229,982 12/1966 Germany 15/ 187 Primary Examiner-Peter Feldman Attorney-Michael S. Striker [57] ABSTRACT A nailbrush has a backing element from which a plurality of slender bristles project. The free tips of the bristles together define a cleaning face and the bristles are of difierential length so that the cleaning face has a longitudinally extending depression and a plurality of transversely extending depressions with the former being deeper than the latter.

6 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure mcmcum 3.744.078

4 INVENTOR.

JOSEPH MU/S mom NAILBRUSII BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to a brush, and more particularly to a novel brush of synthetic plastic material.

Brushes of all kinds are already known, including those of synthetic plastic material. The present invention is in particular concerned with brushes for cleaning the hands, and in particular the nails of the human hand. Such types of brushes are of course also known but are not always entirely satisfactory because they do not afford maximum ease and efficiency of cleaning the nails. The reason for this is that the bristles are so arranged that it is not possible to gain ready and easy access to all parts of the fingernails without difficulty in manipulating the brush.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is, accordingly, an object of the present invention to provide an improved brush of the type under discussion.

More particularly it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved nail brush which greatly facilitates access to and cleaning of all parts of human fingernails, toenails and other parts of digital extremities.

A concomitant object of the invention is to provide such a brush which is simple in its construction and can be inexpensively manufactured.

In pursuance of the above objects, and others which will become apparent hereafter, one feature of the invention resides in a brush which, briefly stated, comprises a backing element having a surface, a longitudinal anda transverse direction. A plurality of slender bristles project from this surface and have free tips which together define a cleaning face. The bristles are of differential length such that the cleaning face is provided with a longitudinally extending depression and one or more transversely extending depressions. Preferably the longitudinally extending depression is deeper than the transversely extending depression or depressions, and it is advantageous although not entirely necessary that the longitudinally extending depression be of substantially rectangular cross-sectional outline or contour, whereas the transversely extending depression or depressions should be of arcuate crosssectional outline or contour.

It is advantageous that the backing element and the bristles be of synthetic plastic material, and preferably, be unitary with one another so that they can be manufactured in a single manufacturing operation.

The novel features which are considered as charac- BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The single FIGURE is a perspective view illustrating a brush embodying the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Discussing now the drawing in detail it will be seen that in the exemplary embodiment shown therein the brush is generally identified with reference numeral 1. It has a backing element 2 which advantageously is of synthetic plastic material and is provided on a surface thereof with a plurality of bristles which are slender and project from this surface. The bristles 3 are arranged in a plurality of parallel rows extending in longitudinal direction of the backing element 2, and they may also form rows extending in transverse direction, but this is not necessarily the case.

The bristles are of differential length so that their free tips together define a cleaning face which is provided in the illustrated embodiment with a longitudinally extending depression 4 of preferably rectangular crosssectional outline or contour, and with one or, as shown in the drawing, a plurality of transversely extending depressions 5 of preferably arcuate cross-sectional contour or outline. The transversely extending depressions 5 are spaced from one another longitudinally of the depression 4 and it will be seen that the bristles which define the depression 4 have a lesser length than those which define the depressions 5, so that the depression 4 is deeper than the depressions 5.

Preferably the backing element 2 and the bristles 3 will be of synthetic plastic material, and they may of course be of different synthetic plastic materials, that is the bristles may be of one and the backing element 2 of another synthetic plastic material. However, it is advantageous that they both be of one and the same plastic material (there are many such materials known which will offer themselves readily to those skilled in the art), and the bristles will be of one piece with the backing element, thereby making it possible to produce the brush in a single manufacturing operation simply and inexpensively.

The novel brush according to the present invention has the advantage that if facilitates access to and cleaning of all parts of the human digital extremities, especially of the nails. Thus, a finger placed with its nail into the groove 4 and inclined transversely of the direction of elongation of the groove 4, and then moved longitudinally of the groove 4, will have the cuticle area cleaned by engagement with the bristles bounding the side of the groove or depression 4, whereas the bristles bounding the bottom of the depression 4 will enter underneath the nail and clean there.

Again, when the brush is moved over the nail area or the knuckles for instance of a human hand, the alternation of recesses and projections formed by the presence of the grooves 5 (assuming that the brush is moved longitudinally of itself) will provide an effective massaging action which affords a much better cleaning of the nail or skin than a brush in which all bristles are of identical length. Of course, in addition to this the brush can also be used in various other ways, including in the purely conventional manner in which nail brushes are ordinarily used.

Advantageously the bristles 3 will be arranged in a plurality of parallel rows extending in longitudinal di rection of the backing element 2, and of the groove 4 and they may be but need not be arranged in transverse rows also. It is preferable that they taper in thickness from the backing element 2 towards their tips where they will be very slender, and in this connection it is pointed out that advantageously all of the bristles 3 should taper in this manner. This means that the depressions 4 and 5 should not be formed by making the bristles all of identical length and then cutting off portions of certain bristles to form the depressions, but that all bristles should be so formed that they taper to a point. The bristles should of course be very flexible, rather than be stiff in the conventional manner of nail brushes, and various different synthetic plastic materials well known to those skilled in the art can be used for making both the bristles and the backing element, as pointed out before.

It will be seen that the longitudinal impression 4 is located substantially midway between the longitudinally extending marginal portions of the cleaning face.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a brush, it is not intended to be limited to the details shown, since various modifications and structural changes may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can by applying current knowledge readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended l. A nailbrush, comprising a backing element having a surface, a longitudinal and a transverse direction; and

a plurality of slender bristles projecting from said surface and having free tips which together define a cleaning face, said bristles being of differential length and including longer and shorter bristles so arranged that said cleaning face is provided with at least one transverse depression and with a longitudinally extending depression whose depth and width is so selected that when the tip ofa finger is inserted into said longitudinal depression the area under the fingernail will be cleaned by said shorter bristles and the area of the article will be cleaned by said longer bristles.

2. A nailbrush, comprising a backing element having a surface, a longitudinal and a transverse direction; and a plurality of slender bristles projecting from said surface and having outer end portions provided with free tips which together define a cleaning face, said bristles being of differential length and including longer and shorter bristles so arranged that said cleaning face is provided with at least one transverse depression and with a longitudinally extending depression into which a human finger tip is to be inserted, said outer end portions of said longer as well as of said shorter bristles all tapering to the respective free tips.

3. A nailbrush as defined in claim 1, wherein said cleaning face has two lateral margins extending in said longitudinal direction; and wherein said longitudinally extending depression is located substantially midway between said lateral margins.

4. A nailbrush as defined in claim 3; further comprising additional ones of said transversely extending depressions spaced from one another and the firstmentioned'transverse depression in said longitudinal direction.

5. A nailbrush as defined in claim 1, wherein at least said backing element is of synthetic plastic material.

6. A nailbrush as defined in claim 1, wherein said backing element and said bristles are of synthetic plastic material. 

1. A nailbrush, comprising a backing element having a surface, a longitudinal and a transverse direction; and a plurality of slender bristles projecting from said surface and having free tips which together define a cleaning face, said bristles being of differential length and including longer and shorter bristles so arranged that said cleaning face is provided with at least one transverse depression and with a longitudinally extending depression whose depth and width is so selected that when the tip of a finger is inserted into said longitudinal depression the area under the fingernail will be cleaned by said shorter bristles and the area of the article will be cleaned by said longer bristles.
 2. A nailbrush, comprising a backing element having a surface, a longitudinal and a transverse direction; and a plurality of slender bristles projecting from said surface and having outer end portions provided with free tips which together define a cleaning face, said bristles being of differential length and including longer and shorter bristles so arranged that said cleaning face is provided with at least one transverse depression and with a longitudinally extending depression into which a human finger tip is to be inserted, said outer end portions of said longer as well as of said shorter bristles all tapering to the respective free tips.
 3. A nailbrush as defined in claim 1, wherein said cleaning face has two lateral margins extending in said longitudinal direction; and wherein said longitudinally extending depression is located substantially midway between said lateral margins.
 4. A nailbrush as defined in claim 3; further comprising additional ones of said transversely extending depressions spaced from one another and the first-mentioned transverse depression in said longitudinal direction.
 5. A nailbrush as defined in claim 1, wherein at least said backing element is of synthetic plastic material.
 6. A nailbrush as defined in claim 1, wherein said backing element and said bristles are of synthetic plastic material. 